TASS, March 27. /TASS/. An accumulation of water at the bottom of its open pit may be the cause of the incident at the Pioneer mine, emergency services told TASS.

"According to one scenario, water accumulated at the bottom of the open pit and penetrated the mine’s workings below the open pit. Rock separating the open pit collapsed together with the mine. The water had to be pumped out in a timely manner," a spokesman said.

The spokesman for the emergency services compared what was happening at the Pioneer mine to the accident at the Mir diamond mine in Yakutia in 2017. Eight miners died then due to an inrush of water from the open pit to the mine’s workings.

An inrush of rock occurred on March 18 at the Pioneer goldmine in the Amur Region. Thirteen people are under the rubble. Their last location was recorded at a depth of 147 meters There is no communication with the miners. Exploratory wells are being drilled but they failed to locate cavities in mine workings. A state of emergency has been introduced in the region.